Chapter Five

At last, Merry and Estella arrived in the village of Budgeford and rode up to the Bolgers' hole. They dismounted the pony and Merry went up to the hole and knocked on the door. The woman who answered it looked at the two of them, and her eyes fell on Estella and widened in surprise. "Estella?"

"Hello, Mother," she said.

"Estella, where were you?" Mrs. Bolger demanded. "Your father and I have been wondering where you were all day."

Estella looked down at the ground and fidgeted slightly. "Well... I went to Bywater. And then Hobbiton."

"Bywater? But why? Why didn't you tell us?"

"She was visiting friends," Merry said matter-of-factly. Estella was shocked. He was actually on her side for once. She thought he would gladly do his best to get her in trouble with her parents.

Mrs. Bolger looked at him. She stared for a few moments, taking in the armor that he wore and the sword that was sheathed at his side. Estella was amused to see a look of alarm in her mother's face. "And who might you be?"

"I'm Merry Brandybuck," he replied. "I've brought your daughter back to you, so you need not worry anymore."

"Oh yes, Merry Brandybuck," Mrs. Bolger repeated. "But wait... Didn't you disappear for a year and everyone believed you to be dead?"

"Well, this proves that rumors are often lies," Merry replied. "As you can see, I'm back."

"Well I'm glad of that," she said. "I believe I may have seen you around before, though I am sure I have never made your acquaintance. You were a friend of my son's?" Her voice became quiet and sad as she mentioned Freddie.

Merry nodded. "And speaking of your son, you'd better let us inside quick so I can tell you the news."

He had sparked her interest. "What? What is it? Is it about Fredegar?" She let them inside the hole and shut the door. They followed her into the sitting room and she sat down on a sofa and sat herself down on a comfortable chair. "Do you have news of my son?" she asked quietly. "The last thing I heard was that he was arrested. What's happened to him?"

"Fredegar is safe," Merry said. The worry in Mrs. Bolger's face instantly disappeared. "Yes, he was in the Lockholes prison and is very weak and is unable to walk on his own, but he's safe. My friends and I rescued him today. My cousin Pippin will be bringing him here tomorrow."

"Rosamunda, I hear voices. Do we have visitors?" Mr. Bolger walked into the sitting room and he immediately spotted his daughter. "Estella! Where were you?"

"Never mind that," said Mrs. Bolger. "Estella was in Bywater and Hobbiton, and this young man brought her back." She gestured at Merry. "And he has told me that our Freddie has been rescued from prison and is safe!"

"Fredegar," Mr. Bolger said softly to himself. A smile was on his face. "But where is he? Is he coming home?"

"Yes," said Merry. "He should be here tomorrow, probably late in the day. They have to go slow because of him. He's still weak from what he endured in the Lockholes."

"This is wonderful," said Mr. Bolger. "Both my son and daughter are safe." He looked at Estella. "But Estella, you have not introduced me to your friend."

Estella could not hide a look of disgust on her face. She felt like vomiting. Friend? She would rather spend a year in the Lockholes than admit to Merry being her 'friend'."

Merry bowed to Mr. Bolger. "Merry Brandybuck."

"Well I am pleased to meet you, Mr. Brandybuck," said Mr. Bolger. If he was surprised at the armor and weapons Merry had on, he didn't show it. "You have brought my wife and I great happiness today. You really must spend the night. I'm sure you're tired."

Estella looked at her father with wide-eyed panic. Spend the night? She didn't want Merry to spend the night in her home. It was like welcoming an enemy into your territory. Why couldn't he just leave, and be quick about it?

"Thank you," said Merry. "All the inns are closed down and I was wondering where I would stay for the night. But since you've offered me your hospitality, I'll be glad to accept it." He glanced at Estella, a wicked look in his eyes. He knew how furious she was at having him in her house.

"Very good," said Mr. Bolger.

"My pony will need to accept some of your hospitality also," Merry said. "He's just outside the house."

"I will have the stable boy take care of him then." Mr. Bolger disappeared.

Mrs. Bolger got up from her seat and straightened out her skirts. "I'm sure you two are hungry. We already had supper but I'm sure there is something in the kitchen you could have. You just stay right here." She disappeared, leaving Estella and Merry alone.

Estella wouldn't look at him. It was bad enough that he was spending the night. She wanted as little to do with him as possible.

Mrs. Bolger came back into the sitting room. "If you can go into the small dining room, then Bell will serve you tea and biscuits."

Estella got up and led Merry to the small dining that was used when it was just the family dining, or if they had only one or two guests. The large dining room was for when they had a lot of company. They sat down at the table, Estella sitting far away from Merry, and Bell the cook came in and served them.

They ate and drank in silence, and then Mr. Bolger came and showed Merry to his room. Without saying goodnight to each other, Merry and Estella parted and Estella went to her own room, glad to be away from him.

It was now quite late and she was tired. She opened up the bottom drawer of her bureau to get a nightgown to change into. To her dismay, all of her nightgowns had been taken away to be washed. All except for one. The only remaining nightgown hadn't needed to be washed because she never wore it. It had been given to her a year ago by a cousin or aunt or some relative. The reason she had never worn it was because it was low-cut, very low-cut. Estella had too much modesty to even think of wearing such a revealing article of clothing.

She didn't have a choice though. She took the nightgown out of the drawer and changed into it, putting her dress and other clothes into a stool. The ridiculously low neckline of her nightgown made her feel uncomfortable, and she quickly crawled into bed and covered herself up with a blanket. She was soon fast asleep.

In the very early hours of the morning, she woke up. It was an odd thing that happened to her frequently. She would suddenly wake up in the middle of the night or very early in the morning, and then would fall back asleep shortly afterward. She didn't know why she did that.

She lay in bed for a while, waiting for sleep to come. But it didn't. As hard as she tried, she just couldn't get back to sleep. Maybe something to eat would help her sleep. She got out of the bed and crept through the house, taking care not to be noticed or heard.

The sun was just starting to come up. She lit a candle anyway, just in case she managed to trip over something and alerted her parents.

She was almost at the kitchen when she almost walked right into a moving shape that had just turned a corner and appeared out of nowhere.

"Merry, what are you doing up?" she hissed.

"What are you doing up?" he whispered back.

"I couldn't sleep."

"Well I needed to go to the privy." He wasn't wearing his armor and sword now, and he looked just like the Merry she had known before he left. His shirt was unbuttoned halfway and she was realized that she was staring. She looked away.

As Estella held her candle out in front of her, it cast light over both of them and she realized something horrible. To her dismay, she remembered the low neckline of her nightgown and a red blush crept into her face. Why did that neckline have to be so low and utterly revealing? Merry was taller than her and could probably see everything.

Merry noticed her embarrassment and could probably guess what was causing it. Yes, he could see everything, but he wasn't going to let her know that.

She could feel his eyes on her and had a feeling he had seen what no innocent lad should have seen. She quickly moved the candle out of the way so its glow didn't illuminate her so much. "Well, um, I must be going!" And before he could stop her, she turned around and fled back to her room, not caring if she made any noise. Once she had her candle blown out and her blankets pulled over her, she tightly shut her eyes and tried to empty her mind.

Curse that nightgown! she thought furiously. Just when she was beginning to think that Merry might turn out to be all right, something had to happen that made her hate him again.

She lay there for a long time, completely forgetting her plan of using food to help her sleep. As long as Merry was around, she was never leaving her room in a nightgown ever again. She finally fell asleep again and slept through the morning with no more awakenings.